For much of the past year, you have read my persistent twitter assault on Donald Trump’s fitness for the Presidency. We have talked about his racism, his misogyny, and his apparent disdain for truth. At various times we each posited that he had finally done too much; that he would not survive this most recent horror (ridiculing a disabled reporter, the Access Hollywood tape, the debates, his persistent disregard for the truth) and assured ourselves that, although she was not our first choice, Hillary Clinton would ultimately prevail. Last night, in our own way around the television (or in front of the computer), we despaired. Indeed, I could barely sleep last night. And, as I write this note, I am aware of my sadness and my concern for the divided country in which we live.

For much of the past year, you have read my persistent twitter assault on Donald Trump’s fitness for the Presidency. We have talked about his racism, his misogyny, and his apparent disdain for truth. At various times we each posited that he had finally done too much; that he would not survive this most recent horror (ridiculing a disabled reporter, the Access Hollywood tape, the debates, his persistent disregard for the truth) and assured ourselves that, although she was not our first choice, Hillary Clinton would ultimately prevail. Last night, in our own way around the television (or in front of the computer), we despaired. Indeed, I could barely sleep last night. And, as I write this note, I am aware of my sadness and my concern for the divided country in which we live.

At the same time, I want you to see some of this nation’s majesty in how it played out. Sometime early this morning, Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump to congratulate him. Shortly afterwards, Donald Trump gave a remarkably balanced speech. He spoke, in a serious way, of unity. Then, later, President Obama called him to invite him to the White House on Thursday to meet to discuss the orderly transition of power. Our country works that way. We divide and fight and then come together to govern while the next fight brews. In the events of last night and this morning, I found comfort in familiarity. It was Washington to Adams; Carter to Reagan; or Bush to Clinton. The patterns of the next few days and weeks are central to our democracy’s longevity and, prior tweets notwithstanding, I believe our system is stronger than Donald Trump.

So, over the months to come, we should do some things together. First, we should show our President-Elect the courtesy and respect we would have wanted from him and his supporters had our candidate won. Next, we should take seriously some of the hard lessons of this campaign: racism and fear remain powerful forces in our communities, and working families feel disenfranchised and unheard (my support for Bernie Sanders reflected his ability to understand this essential challenge). And, many people are suffering for want of work and hope and they blame Washington. People do not believe that the government will help them. They believe that the system is “rigged.” Indeed, quite to the contrary, they perceive government as interfering with their freedom. They take corruption for granted and chose to believe that a seemingly unbalanced man who lived off of his father’s money was more worthy of their trust than a woman who devoted her life to public service of one form or another.

This is the part I want you to think about and to try to help change. People who choose to spend their lives in politics are making a noble choice. Some abuse it (and I fully see the resonance of that feeling against the Clintons). But others, like President Obama and Michelle Obama, set an example for all of us. Their service reminds us of what good and smart people can do when they put their energies toward the greater cause. Whether it’s the improved economy, the many who now have health care, or simply the tone of Obama’s discourse, his contributions to our country resonate. Part of what has made this election so hard is that we all were so proud of the Obamas (even when we disagreed with them).

I expect that we will be very frustrated with President Trump. I fear that the economy will suffer (particularly if he imposes his promised tariffs), that many will lose insurance and suffer as a consequence, and that the tone of Trump’s discourse will be a source of shame for us all. If this happens, let’s take the sadness we felt last night and turn it into passionate and effective opposition. Let’s support the efforts of those brave and noble enough to enter the arena and take him on. And let’s not lose sight of the long arc of history. We may not like this curve, but – if we hold hands and work together, as Martin King taught us – its ultimate course is assured.

And then there is the last thing. Let’s also remember that Donald Trump will be our next President. May he handle the responsibility with the seriousness of purpose and resolve that it requires and may we have the strength of character to honor and respect him in his new capacity, because our country demands that of us, right now.

As a college debater, I learned the hard way that it was a mistake to trust the judges. Every once in a while, my partner and I would find ourselves debating against a poorly informed or angrily hyperbolic team. Early in our competitive career, we would stand back and count on the judge to notice that our opponents were self-immolating. After one too many judge somehow accepted a flatly untrue statement or seemed moved by unhinged passion, we changed course. In every competitive round, we worked hard to make sure that there was no room for anyone to question the outcome. We ran the risk of appearing too aggressive in order to ensure that we won. And it worked. Sunday night, as I watched Hillary Clinton stand back while Donald Trump huffed, puffed and threatened to put her in jail, I wondered why she did not strike as hard as she might. The answer is that politics is not competitive debate and that Michelle Obama’s maxim: “when they go low, we go high” is how elections, as opposed to debates, are won.

All by himself, Donald Trump demonstrated that he does not think that the tape of his bragging about sexually assaulting women matters (“locker room talk); that he has conceded Syria to the Russians (Aleppo has “essentially fallen); that he does not see the difference between religion and terror (his horrific answer to the muslim woman); and that he has no respect for basic tenets of constitutional democracy (his threat to imprison Secretary Clinton). He also showed himself to be badly uninformed about: taxes; economic growth; health care; our inner cities; race; and even the facts of the Bill Clinton era scandals. Notwithstanding all of this low-hanging fruit, Hillary Clinton trundled through the debate explaining what she would do as President and only sometimes briefly urging viewers to fact check her opponent.

In so doing, she lost many of the pundit judges. CNN and other news networks lamented her failure to land a knockout blow. The news Monday, at least at first, suggested that Trump had somehow righted the ship of his bizarre campaign. Clinton, though, was smart. Because behind those headlines lies Sunday evening’s truth. First, she knows her stuff; he does not. Second, she handled the physicality of the town hall well – she was either talking to the voter or at her chair. In contrast, he loomed, sniffed, walked and sighed, behaving in an appreciably animalistic way throughout. Third, she let him fall into traps that will spring of their own accord throughout this week: (1) he denied that he had done the things described in the now famous tape; (2) he disagreed with Mike Pence; (3) he admitted that he does not pay personal income tax; and (4) most dramatically, he threatened to jail her if he won. All of these moments will resonate across time. The last is, by my measure, the single most remarkable comment ever made in a Presidential debate. Our constitutional democracy is, quite literally, defined by the peaceful and graceful transition of power. Donald Trump, as his threat reveals, is antithetical to who we are.

So too, and Clinton seems to know this, is his effort to mask bragging about tic-tac enabled sexual assault as “locker room talk.” It’s not. Men who respect women never speak like this. Indeed, civilized people never speak like this. Even more so, they do not act like this. In a world now increasingly aware of the horror of sexual assault and the need for clear and informed consent, Trump’s effort to minimize his conduct is beyond offensive. It is this simple: a person who says and does such things cannot be a serious candidate for President in 2016.

This last sentence is what Hillary Clinton is willing to trust that the real judges, the voters, know. For the Clinton campaign, Sunday night was about contrast. On the one hand, the rampaging Donald Trump, looking every bit like a man who believes he is entitled to kiss and grab with impunity. And, on the other, the frustrated but dignified former Secretary of State, looking very much like a President. The moments that make up this contrast will resonate and mean more across time than the immediate reactions of the pundits. In sticking to her approach in the face of bombast and hatred, Hillary Clinton looked very much like a President of the United States.